Method of making an enclosure



April 1963 H. E. HANDLEY 3,085,323

METHOD OF MAKING AN ENCLOSURE Filed Dec. 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR Air/e040 E, f/mvoz-sr QMMQWM/ ATTORNEY METHOD OF MAKING AN ENCLOSURE Filed Dec. 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR hwoz'a A. hf zvoasy ATTORNEY 3,085,323 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 3,085,323 METHOD OF MAKING AN ENCLOSURE Harold E. Handley, Jackson, Mich., assignor to Handley Brown Heater Company, Jackson, Micln, a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 832,873 2 Claims. (Cl. 29-416) The invention relates to enclosures and particularly pertains to enclosures provided with a removable cover adapted to be mounted to a vertical planar supporting surface.

The present invention was originally constructed to house gas meters or the like when the meters are affixed to the exterior of the dwelling serviced or mounted within an exterior wall. The requirement for such an application of an enclosure is that it be attractive, non-corrosive, versatile, economical to manufacture, light weight and have an easily accessible interior. It was further desired that the enclosure be relatively weather proof and could be used whether the meter was located on or within the wall. It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the above usage but can be employed in a wide variety of applications.

It is thus an object of the invention to provide an enclosure, having a removable cover, which is readily affixed to a planar vertical support surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a twopiece enclosure having overlapping portions which may be formed from a unitary blank merely by severing the blank at the proper locations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a removable cover enclosure which is relatively weather proof and which may be sealed against tampering.

Another object of the invention is to form an enclosure which may be afiixed to a planar support surface in two different installations.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unitary blank from which the enclosure of the invention is fabricated,

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the blank of FIG. 1 taken from the left side thereof,

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the two main components of the enclosure of the invention after severing of the blank,

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the assembled enclosure with the cover in position,

FIG. 5 is an elevational cross sectional view of the fastening means taken along the line V-V of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional elevational view of a hinge structure which may be used with the invention.

The enclosure of the invention may be produced from any conventional material which may be molded or cast to the form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, however, it is preferred that the enclosure be formed of an inert plastic material and the commercial embodiment of the enclosure is formed of a resin-rubber compound commercially known as Kralastic.

In the preferred embodiment, using a plastic material, the blank 10 may be formed from a sheet of the material by subjecting the same to a vacuum molding process or other conventional forming method. As represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 the blank 10 consists of a substantially box-like configuration, hollow inside, which is bounded on the sides by walls 12 and enclosed at one end by panel 14. A flange 16 is formed at the open edges of the blank 10 except on one side wherein the flange 18 is vertically spaced from the flange 16. On the side 12, opposite the side on which flange 18 is formed, a shoulder surface 20 is formed extending the width of the blank and projecting inwardly. Due to the large radii formed on the corners of the blank 10 the surface 20 also intersects the adjacent sides 12 as at 22. Due to the surface 26, a lip panel 24 is defined at the upper region of the adjacent blank side.

It will be understood that the blank 10 has a relatively thin wall thickness, the same as the thickness of the flanges 16 and 18.

Two of the opposing side walls are formed with an upper portion 26 which is parallel to but ofi-set with respect to a lower portion 28. The junction of these portions is tapered as at 30. The taper extending downward and inwardly in that the upper portion 26 extends out- Ward, away from the blank configurations, with respect to the lower portion 28. As observed in FIG. 2 the taper off-set junction 30 extends downwardly from surface 20 and back toward the end of flange 18.

To form the base and cover elements of the enclosure the blank is severed along the dotted lines shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it being understood that the side 12 opposite the side illustrated in FIG. 2 is of similar configuration and is correspondingly severed as indicated. The side 12 on which the flange 18 is formed terminates immediately below flange 18 and thus the blank becomes two pieces. The severing line 32 is made at the point the tapered portion 30 intersects lower portion 28 and as the amount of off-set between portions 26 and 28 is approximately equal to the thickness of the blank material the portion 26 may now snugly overlap the lower portion 28.

In severing the blank 10 on the dotted lines it will be noted that as severing line 34 is made at the junction of the shoulder surface 20 and lip panel 24 and severing line 36 is made in vertical spaced relation to line 34 a portion 38 of the blank 10 is totally removed. The line 36 creates an edge 40 which will contact surface 20 when the upper and lower blank sections are overlapped, note FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 3 the lower half of the blank forms a base element 42 while the upper half forms a cover element 44. It will be observed that the base 42 consists of a pair of parallel side walls 46 interconnected by the panel 48 and the shoulder surface 20 is a part of this element. Holes may be formedin the flange 16 for mounting the base element to a planar supporting surface by screws, bolts etc.

The cover element 44 consists of side walls 50 interconnected by panels 52 and 14 and the lip panel 24 forms a part of the cover. An opening 56 may be formed in the cover and provided with glass to permit reading of a meter Within the enclosure. Severing line 32 is represented by 32' on the base element and 32" on the cover.

A pair of fasteners are mounted on the walls 46 and are adapted to cooperate with holes 58 in the cover side walls. These fasteners may take the form of a screw 60 maintained in a hole within the base side wall by a Tinnerman nut 62. The side walls 50 may be deflected to permit the screw to project through holes 58 and nut 64 maintains the connection. Screw 60 is preferably axially slotted as at 66 and a diametrical hole in the nut 64 permits a sealing wire 68 to be inserted to prevent unauthorized removing of the nuts 64 and the cover.

Engagement of the base 42 and cover 44 at the lower regions is maintained by a pair of hinge elements 70 affixed to the inside of lip panel 24 and is shaped to snugly engage the inside of the shoulder surface 20. These hinges also maintain the edge 40 in intimate abutment with surface 20. When affixing the cover 44 to the base 42 the hinges 70 are first hooked over the edge of surface 20 and the cover pivoted up to insert the screws 60 through the holes 58.

The enclosure is affixed to the vertical supporting surface by the flanges 16 and cover flange 18 if desired. If the enclosure is atfixed to a house wall, for instance, the enclosure may be mounted as to be hung on the wall, or by cutting a hole in the wall large enough to receive the enclosure, the enclosure is reversed and flush mounted with respect to the Wall. In the latter case planar cover panels, not shown, are used to enclose the open side of the enclosure.

The disclosed construction has several significant advantages for housing meters or similar devices in that stationary piping or wiring may be run through the panel 48 without interfering with the cover operation. Also by overlapping the side joint between base and cover rain and snow cannot seep into the enclosure. The increasing depth of the base side walls 46 helps weather proof the enclosure and provides strength and rigidity to the enclosure.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a box-like enclosure defined by a plurality of overlapping elements from a unitary box-like blank of a form substantially similar to the assembled enclosure having opposing side walls and an offset wall interconnecting said side walls, said off set portion defining a planar shoulder surface, comprising the steps of forming a first portion of said side Walls parallel but offset with respect to a second portion of said side walls, said first portion being outwardly disposed to said second portion With respect to the configuration of said blank, severing said blank at the junction of said first and second portions and removing a portion of said blank affixed to said first portion and adjacent said shoulder surface defining an abutment edge and assembling the severed blank portions whereby said first portion partially overlaps said second portion adjacent the severed side wall regions upon displacing said portions toward each other in a. direction parallel to said side walls and said abutment edge abutingly engages said shoulder surface and afiixing said first portion to said second portion.

2. The method of forming a box-like enclosure having a base and a removable cover from a unitary molded blank having sides comprising the steps of molding said blank in substantially the form of the assembled enclosure, dimensioning first portions of said sides a distance from the center of said blank greater than second portions of said sides, said first and second portions of a common side being parallel and interconnected by a tapered portion, severing said sides at the intersection of said tapered portion and said second portion forming a base and cover from said blank and reassembling said base and cover whereby said first side portions overlap said second side portions in slideable relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,552,748 Kopplinger Sept. 8, 1925 2,120,881 Assbroicher June 14, 1938 2,157,978 Bullock May 9, 1939 2,310,390 Bridges Feb. 9, 1943 2,698,989 Lyon Jan. 11, 1955 2,822,608 Watson Feb. 11, 1958 2,832,498 Parsons Apr. 29, 1958 

1. A METHOD OF FORMING A BOX-LIKE ENCLOSURE DEFINED BY A PLURALITY OF OVERLAPPING ELEMENTS FROM A UNITARY BOX-LIKE BLANK OF A FORM SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO THE ASSEMBLED ENCLOSURE HAVING OPPOSING SIDE WALLS AND AN OFFSET WALL INTERCONNECTING SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID OFF SET PORTION DEFINING A PLANAR SHOULDER SURFACE, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF FORMING A FIRST PORTION OF SAID SIDE WALLS PARALLEL BUT OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO A SECOND PORTION OF SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID FIRST PORTION BEING OUTWARDLY DISPOSED TO SAID SECOND PORTION WITH RESPECT TO THE CONFIGURATION OF SAID BLANK, SEVERING SAID BLANK AT THE JUNCTION OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND PORTIONS AND REMOVING A PORTION OF SAID BLANK AFFIXED TO SAID FIRST PORTION AND ADJACENT SAID SHOULDER SURFACE DEFINING AN ABUTMENT EDGE AND ASSEMBLING THE SEVERED BLANK PORTIONS WHEREBY SAID FIRST PORTION PARTIALLY 